Chelsea’s Official Starting Eleven vs Fulham

Antonio Rudiger has called on Chelsea to return to winning ways following their defeat to Spurs last time out.

“Just because of one game we don’t need to break our heads,” said the defender.

“We need to take positives because until that game we were still unbeaten and if anyone had said that this would happen, I think 90 per cent would have said “no”.

“So we just need to stay focused and try to make this not happen again.

“If we look back at this match many things didn’t go well, but there’s no use trying to look for excuses.

“It was a bad game and we need to learn from this because it was a huge lesson.

“Of course the manager was disappointed but that’s normal after such a game.

“At the end of the day we don’t want to lose games, but sometimes we do.”

Maurizio Sarri’s side lost their unbeaten record at Tottenham last weekend, but they returned to winning ways in the Europa League, beaten PAOK 4-0 at Stamford Bridge on Thursday night.

It’s been a breeze in Europe’s secondary cup competition, with qualification already assured, but they must now send out a signal to their Premier League title rivals that they are not about to fade into a battle for a top four spot.

It was a powerful message sent out by Spurs in moving above them at Wembley. Sarri’s men most follow suit against their west London rivals, who are hoping their managerial bounce continues along the Fulham Road.